The Eden Complex
by P.O.KILLER
Summary: A/U. Based on Ichirō Ōkouchi's Code Geass, the world of Final Fantasy VIII is superimposed as a high flying, mecha fighting, supernatural military drama. "The only ones who should kill are the ones who are prepared to be killed." Harem Romance done right. QuistisXSquallXEdenXRinoa. -TheStorySoFar: Emotions are the language of the 4th world. The Immortal is known simply as E.
1. Dogfight

**The Eden Complex**

* * *

Prologue: Dogfight

* * *

"Hyne-damned. It's never ending," Lieutenant Squall Leonhart said to himself in the cockpit of a one-seater sky Viper. He looked out from the glass canopy of his fighter to the endless ocean ahead. The Viper's hull was sharp as a blade, ripping through the sky and arching backward, encircling the carrier ship below cruising slowly through non-territorial ocean. The type C war-class ship, _Odessa_, wade ahead on high alert.

"We'll be hitting the Bikanel-Centra channel, soon," Squall heard over the communication link. The voice came from Quistis Trepe, Captain of the ship he now flew over. "Bring her down, Lieutenant. I don't expect there to be any surprises, not yet anyway." Squall nodded to himself, feeling uneasy about the whole thing.

"Copy that, Command. Heading back."

The _Odessa_ and her crew were contracted and deployed as escort to a top-secret research facility, completely surrounded by ocean. It was nicknamed "The Deep Sea", as most of the research that went on there involved excavating deep under water and into the crust.

It was long wondered what items had been unearthed, or what ghastly weapon had been developed as a result of the radical, ofttimes illegal "discoveries" made by the researchers stationed there. Now, some of that mystery would be solved.

Aboard the_ Odessa_ was The Deep Sea's newest toy, mined deep from under the ocean. The Lieutenant hadn't laid eyes on it personally, but from the excited chatter of the crew, he could only assume it was some kind of a weapon. And that made the _Odessa_ a target.

Leonhart's primary objective was to provide any combat support should there be any complications.

Their journey to and from The Deep Sea had taken two and half weeks by ocean, and there were four more days to go, before the journey would end at their base of operations in the Balambese-Besaid Island Federation.

Squall initiated landing procedures, easing in slowly onto the flight deck. His Viper purred until silent. Unfastening his helmet, he popped open the glass canopy of the cockpit, letting the fresh sea air fill his head and dry the sweat in his hair. He was greeted by crew members, who immediately began re-fueling the machine, while others performed maintenance checks and the like. Squall was helped from the Viper by a ladder positioned for him to descend from.

From the tarmac, he could see the silvery underbelly of his machine, its Estharan designed flight mechanisms that allowed it to cut weightlessly through the air, or fire high powered pulsar charges from turrets on each of the wings. This particular model was dubbed the _Gunblade_, named after a handheld weapon used by very few of the operatives on the ship, Squall being among them.

He crossed his arms, taking in the oceanic expanse. He was sure that if enemies were to appear they'd be able to react in time, but nonetheless, he felt helpless outside of the Viper. Though, he understood why Captain Trepe chose this route, instead of the shorter one, leading through the Gagazet mountain shield and into friendly Trabian territories. There were too many places for enemies to hide there. Regardless, they were sitting ducks on this outdated enourmous rig either way, Squall concluded.

"Good flying out there, Lieutenant," his came from Captain Trepe, strolling onto the tarmac from the command bridge. Her long, blonde hair blew in the wind, and her sharp, inquisitive eyes seemed to become even bluer amongst the sky and ocean. She was dressed in a regular Balamb Garden merc operative uniform, a dark blue jumpsuit. Her rank was signified by gold shoulder adornments. Quistis Trepe was flanked by another pilot, Warrant Officer Zell Dincht, and the head researcher from The Deep Sea. Squall remembered the man's name to be Ansem Somov.

"Sir." Squall replied. The Warrant Officer took this as his chance to jump in.

"Yeah, good flying. But it'll be nothing compared to what I'll be piloting once we get back to base." The Warrant Officer's chest swelled at something he was thinking about. The man before Squall was shorter, with cropped blonde hair that was spiked in the front. He naturally gifted and extremely skilled at hand to hand combat and proved to be more than an apt pilot, but his lack of regard for chain of command prevented him from climbing the ranks as quickly as others in his age group.

"You mean the weapon?" Squall asked.

"It's quite more than that, Lieutenant." This was from Ansem Somov. Ansem was a rather tall and dignified man. His last name implied that he was born in the Trabian region. It was the first Leonhart had seen the man until now. His mustached lips twitched into a smile, as he straightened his broad shoulders to further explain himself. "What I mean is, I think its implications range far beyond that of military interests."

"Be that as it may, Mr. Somov," Quistis said severely, "What concerns us is getting this back to Garden, right? So it doesn't matter what it is. As long as it gets there, untouched. That means no experiments, and one one getting into it. Am I understood?" Quistis was unrelenting in staring down the taller man, making sure he got the point.

"Oh course, Captain." Somov said innocently.

"Very good."

"You haven't seen it, have you?" Zell asked, getting closer. He threw his arms over Squall's shoulder. "Well, the Captain didn't say we couldn't look at it, right?" The Warrant Officer began to pull Squall into the direction of the hangar. "Come on, Lieutenant, this way, sir."

Squall was pulled from the deck until they reached stairs leading to lower levels of the ship. Zell then let go and began to descend to the hangar. Squall straightened himself before following. Behind him, Ansem trotted along, his thick white hair hanging passed his shoulders.

The hangar was darkened until Zell had flipped a lever for the spotlights. As Squall's eyes adjusted from the sudden darkness to the gradual lighting, he saw a hulking figure obscured in a deep green tarp. Light began to expose parts of the weapon that went uncovered by the tarp. It was a machine. There was earth still on the gunmetal exterior. Its curves were were smooth, yet the design was angular and imposing. "Let's get a little closer. Haha! Would you look at this shit?! It's insane!" Zell whipped across the room, to get a look at the thing from underneath.

Squall took in it's sheer size, know knowing now why it was imperative they use a massive ship like the _Odessa_. No aircraft Balamb Garden possessed had the capacity to accommodate this - Squall couldn't think of it as a weapon anymore- It was a just a machine. It stood about five stories high, and what Squall mistook for metal was actually some kind of highly refined bio-material that seemed to shift through subtle shades of black to gray every second. He leaned in closer, wanting to touch it, but his fingers came into contact with a cool, transparent Kevlar thin film.

As for the design, it looked almost hume. What it stood on, looked like two anatomically accurate legs. The joints and musculature were inorganic and exaggerated, but the overall design looked highly evolved, mechanical, and slightly animalistic.

"Boys back home said I'd be the first to pilot this thing, once the nerds fine tune it." Zell breathed in deeply, letting his hands rest on his hips.

"Pilot? How?" Just as Squall's question left his mouth, he noticed Somov jerking the tarp off of the machine, unveiling the entire frame of the humanistic machine. He saw that back was misshapen, protruding outward. There was tinted glass that looked like a canopy that would enclose a cockpit. He stepped back to look at the face of the thing. It seemed that there was no face, the cockpit was ergodynamic and morphed into the body of the thing naturally, as if to reject the need for a head.

"That answer your question, Lieutenant? Have you ever seen anything like it?" Ansem stepped back as well, crossing his arms. "We mined it deep below the surface. It was being overtaken by a growing reef, and would have been completely covered up if we hadn't found it." He paused. "When we dug it out, the reef collapsed and killed some of my only friends."

"This mission only called for the safe transport of the machi- excuse me - weapon. I assumed you joining us was a last minute contract modification. So is that why you won't part ways with it, Sir? It cost too much to finally get ahold of?"

Somov didn't answer right away, just sighed. His eyes seemed to be looking at the metallic claws that resembled hands. Squall noted the inbuilt sheaths, and firing nodes running up the side of the frame. Perhaps it was a weapon. It didn't look like it had any flight capabilities, but there were thrusters below the cockpit and at the feet of the giant.

"How old are you, Lieutenant?"

" 24, sir." Somov paused seeming to be lost in thought for a moment.

"I _thought_ you were quite young. I estimate this machine to be just around 2,400 years old. Old to us, young in the relative scheme of things, I suppose. You know, this thing is suspicious."

"Sir?"

"I mean, it looks like a weapon, but… somehow, I still don't think it is." Ansem chuckled to himself. "And you have you no interest in using it?"

Squall thought the question odd. What would he ever need this machine for? Zell seemed willing enough to use it as a stepping stone for rank, but this machine only represented a directive from his superiors at the Private Mercenary Contracting Base, Balamb Garden. "No sir. My duty is to ensure its safe delivery, that's all."

"Noble. But power begets power. I believe this thing might very well swallow up the world." Squall passed it off as an uncharacteristically superstitious comment for a scientist to make.

"It only could do that, if it were a weapon. You said it yourself, you think this machine has other uses. I have the same feeling." Ansem smiled at this, his aging eyes lighting up for a moment before returning to a warm, but stoic hazel.

"Well, it's out of my hands. Whatever it becomes, as Head of Research, I'll be responsible for it."

"If you're delivering it us, a PMC, it'll most likely become a weapon."

"I realize that. I'll consider it revenge for the scientists that died so that it could live."

"Hey, what are you guys yammering about?" Zell walked over to Squall and Ansem. "So, what do you think? Crazy, right?"

"Yeah. Let's hope the lid stays shut on this one." Squall said, realizing how much more of a target the _Odessa_ became simply by having this thing on board. Pirates, governments, and even other PMCs might be after this same artifact if word ever got out.

"No problem," Zell said confidently. "If some fuckers wanna try taking this from me, I'll pilot this thing and show 'em a thing or two. Right, Squall?" Squall didn't agree or disagree, only looked on at the machine. Zell paused his laughing and noted Squall's face. "Pretty badass, huh?" Squall couldn't help but agree.

"What is this thing called?" Squall asked. At this, Somov pulled out a handheld device that served as a remote data terminal and pulled up a file photograph of what seemed to be a close up shot of the curvature of the cockpit on the weapon. Well formed letters hugged the curve in a deep red. "Griever."

"Correct. I have no idea what it means. But it's the only thing that stands out against the black shifty material that this thing seems to be made of. I do hope we hurry so I can begin to run tests." Somove quickly replaced the terminal in his thick long jacket.

"It'll be like piloting a bigger version of myself." Zell said in awe. Squall had never seen anyone excited over a simple weapons procurement mission. At least Quistis didn't seem overly excited about it. In fact, she seemed to be avoiding the thing.

Over the intercom, an urgent suddenly message repeated itself as red alert lights blinked on and off. "Level 1 Battle Posts. Level 1 Battle Posts. Prepare for anti-air, anti-ship combat."

"Shit! Is it the Galbadians?" Zell hollered, running at full pace toward his post on the deck, where his fighter, a Red Flag unit stood waiting.

The _Odessa_ was suddenly rocked by an incoming bomb that exploded nearby. Over the intercom: "Prepare for evasive maneuvers."

"You'd better get a move on, Lieutenant." Somov patted Squall's shoulder. He didn't realize that he'd been immobilized by the machine.

"Get to a safe place, Sir!" Squall sprang into action, leaving the machine behind, and taking the same path Zell did to get to his Sky Viper.

"Hurry up!" Squall ignored Zell's impertinence as the adrenaline of the impending dogfight began to overtake him.

"This is Lieutenant Leonhart, ready for takeoff," he spoke into the communications system as he donned his helmet, strapped himself in, and prepared for takeoff.

"Copy that, Lieutenant," scratched back Command. Leonhart quickly flipped the necessary levers to give power to the thrusters.

"What are we up against?" The whir of the _Gundblade _coming to life, charged Squall's blood.

"Looks like one Al Bhed Carrier Pirate Ship and three Sky Vipers. Take them out, gain air superiority, and the battle is ours." The Lieutenant recognized the Captain's voice when he heard it. The Al Bhed had caught them by surprise somehow, but Squall was about to make them pay dearly.

"Gunblade, you are cleared for takeoff."

"Roger that, Command. Gunblade out." The fighter arched elegantly into flight, leaving a distinct white trail behind him.

In the air, Squall quickly located one of the enemy fighter units to the southwest, and closing in on him. He engaged his left wing break and banked right, while changing his course to meet the enemy head on. He charged a low hanging gun turret before releasing a barrage of bullets on the opposing fighter, who managed to slightly alter its course, avoiding the first stream. Leonhart expected that much from a pirate, and elevated as the other did, catching the Al Bhed sky viper in a spray of bullets. The Lieutenant's _Gunblade_ zipped passed its defeated opponent. Squall barely noticed the craft exploding into fire and dust behind him after intercepting a missile headed for the _Odessa_.

"Yo, Leonhart! Watch your right flank. We got a wannabe badass. Took down two of ours. I'm gonna take out his partner and their ship. " Squall copied, and watched his GPS sensors locate an enemy unit heading his way. The ship's movements were fast and erratic. From the blips on his screen, he knew who it was.

The _Hyperion_ was ghost grey and blended in with the clouds, smoke, and death it caused. It was well known in the merc underworld as 'shadow', and its pilot was just as notorious. "Gunblade, you still got that scar?!" This radio transmission came over an open channel, confirming Squall's suspicion that the _Hyperion_'s pilot was none other than Seifer Almasy.

His blood boiled at the mention of the scar. His past with him was a complicated one as they'd had known each other as children and once fought as mercs on the same side. But Almasy went freelance, and now seemed to thwart him at every turn. "What are you doing with these Al Bhed pirates?" Squall asked cooly, as they exchanged fire gracefully in an aerial dogfight. They whirled about one another, performing barrel rolls and targeting with heated phaser ray shots.

"I don't know, maybe it has something to do with that little toy your boys at The Deep Sea dug up." Squall was surprised at just how forward Seifer had been. How did he know about the machine weapon? Seifer released an electrode bomb. It quickly darted and struck the _Gundblade_'s right thruster. He began losing altitude. "What's the matter, Squall? Thought I was just going to lie?! Everything's different! I'm destroying that thing. Stay out of my way."

"Shit." Leonhart spat. What had gotten into Seifer? He had known him for a long time, and his attitude wasn't only frantic, but slightly crazed. Squall stabilized his fighter, circling back around to find that the enemy pilot Zell was against had fired a shot at the _Odessa_ and hit it astern. From the fiery hole, he could see his comrades running for cover, and the Griever machine, still and unaffected.

At this rate, the _Odessa_ would sink. He bypassed Seifer, using his only nitro boost to skirt ahead, despite the heavy damage his unit sustained. He quickly unleashed a hyper cannon shot, but not before the enemy shot down Zell's fighter. The Al Bhed ship exploded into nothingness.

"Damn, I'm going down, Squall. Get… Seifer." Zell's viper crashed landed into the ocean. It was on fire, but he could see the cockpit detach safely a hundred feet away, while the_ Odessa_ became increasingly engulfed in flames. Squall grit his teeth, and punched his accelerator as far as it would go, as Seifer pursued in _Hyperion_. He was hoping to lead Seifer away. The hope didn't last long as Seifer stopped his upward pursuit and took aim at the _Odessa_. Squall slammed on the brakes and made a sloppy bound around.

"Any last words, Scarboy?" Seifer had only aimed at the _Odessa_ to get him to turn around before he was planning to, catching him off guard. "Still too soft, loser." He aimed and fired a vulcan laser at the_ Gundblade _instead. It shot through the air, deathly blue and hot.

Squall managed to avoid a direct hit, but the laser skimmed the hull at the top, melting and exploding the metal and glass of the cockpit, causing all kinds of alerts to sound and blink on his dashboard. "Damn!" The shot ended up blasting his last thruster. He jutted forward as an explosion blew his left wing off.

Seifer had known exactly how Squall was going to react. After all of these years, he still couldn't beat him.

The_ Gunblade_ began to fall into a tailspin.

Was defeat the only path he could take besides death? The thought of losing would kill him more than dying in an exploding fighter.

Yet, he was mercenary. And he knew that the only ones that should kill, should be the ones ready to _be killed._

And Seifer had sealed his dead-end fate as a no good merc.

The _Gunblade_ flickered, reflecting the light of the sun from its broken glass and flying shrapnel before exploding in midair.

* * *

**BAM! That was really fun to write. Mechs and military fighting are probably my most favorite things right now. Code Geass and Gundam definitely inspired this, but I don't know how I'll go about reinventing FF8 into a Mecha Military Supernatural Drama. But I hope it's good enough to continue. **

**Yes, if any characters and references seem out of place that's because they are! I like Mash-ups, so you'll be seeing the world of FF X and FF XII join with FF VIII's world in a cool and innovative way! The geopolitical scene will be messy! I hope you enjoy the drama of the ensuing character clash. **

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**Next Chapter: The Griever Awakens**

**Facing death, what else can a mercenary do but choose to live to fight another day? What are the consequences of thwarting fate and what could possess the power to fight God's cruel design?**

**PREPARE TO FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT TO EXIST!**

**I do not own Final Fantasy VIII, or any of the other characters from the Square franchise. BLeh.**


	2. The Griever Awakens

**The Eden Complex**

* * *

Chapter 1: The Griever Awakens

* * *

_It was raining that night._

_"They'll come for us, Seifer. We just have to wait."_

_"You can wait if you want," the boy was fearless, and began to head off. "This is training, don't you understand? They want to see how long we can survive out here on our own." The other child could only wipe away the rain in his eyes._

_They stayed lost for 3 days._

_Squall woke up late in the night with a pair of hands wrapped around his throat. It was still raining. "You liar! You're hiding food, I know you are. You liar! Liar! Liar!" There was no food. Seifer had gone mad. Maybe it was starvation, it was probably just the rain. Perhaps it was just because he wanted to._

_Mercenary cadets were all issued a switch blade upon entering Balamb Garden. Squall had his mounted unto his wrists, as advised by his merc handbook, for instances just like this._

_His arms were flailing violently against the rocky ground. It was a tropical forest that led into the sea, not quite jungle, not quite wood. The sand cut his arms and the back of his neck. Seifer's eyes were dark and cold. His grip tightened._

_Squall could feel his veins being squeezed to the limit, he was sure one of them would pop, and that it would be over soon. As the numbness took over, Seifer loosened his grip ever so slightly, and Squall's reflexes kicked in, allowing him to dispatch the knife, and cut him clear across the face, from left eye to right brow._

_Blood gushed from the wound, spilling onto Squall's face, as Seifer sprung back from the pain. He writhed, yelled, and held his bleeding face or a long time before saying anything. "Too soft… I wanted to kill you, but I was too soft."_

_The other boy wondered if that was what he said. The rain was so loud. After a while, Squall stood, offering to help Seifer to his feet and get help. "We're on the same side. I don't want to fight." Seifer snapped up and grabbed his wrist outfitted with the blade, and slammed it down, along with the rest of Squall's body. Stunned, Squall could only watch as Seifer removed his own blade, running it lightly over the same spot he'd just been cut._

_"I'm not like you. I'm strong." Seifer quickly cut into Squall's face, his own smeared in red and mud. The cut was painful, but Squall didn't scream because he was alone. Utterly alone._

_Seifer had passed out when he was done cutting and Squall just lay there, bleeding._

_When it finally stopped raining, they'd been found._

* * *

He was falling. The Lieutenant was falling from the sky. His hands were rigid on the steering column, he must have passed out from the heat. There was nothing he could do to reverse the tailspin he was in. He chose to calmly remove his helmet. The wind whipped violently in his face. Seifer had really got him.

He breathed in deeply, calmly pushing the eject over and over. Something was jammed. He looked down onto the _Odessa_, now firing missiles and keeping the Hyperion at bay, just barely.

Then the machine caught his eye. The _Griever_. "All this because of you," Leonhart thought. There was no malice. He was stating fact. He resigned to his impending fate.

'You're not going to let it end like this, are you?' Squall was losing it, his communications were down. Captain Trepe couldn't be sending transmissions.

"Be quiet, Captain. There's nothing you can do now."

Squall blacked out.

_'Which way will you go?'_

Time seemed to stop. No, that wasn't quite right, it was as if his perception of it changed, like he stood above it all and would know every eventuality simply because he was able to comprehend time outside of its limited Hume understanding.

What was happening to him?

He opened his eyes as his physical body was being dissolved into a void of light, a world beyond time. "One path ends at time, and the other gives you a second chance to live in this mortal life." It was a woman. She was completely nude. He swallowed hard.

He backed away, after realizing that he was in a body again, which also happened to be nude. He was in a place far beyond the reality he knew, and even that just seemed like a hazy dream in this place. He felt so light, he questioned his own existence. It felt so faint. He look around him, the void was bright, and he could see images of the moon, a pregnancy, and a little redheaded girl crying. Squall somehow knew without a doubt that the child was now the woman standing before him.

His memories, too, played behind him. A stoic faced child, orphaned. The comforting sword sculpture in the merc training institute, Balamb Garden, the rain, the boy, and the scars.

She was _seeing_ him.

"What do you want?"

"To make a deal."

"What?"

"You want to win don't you? Against him?" She meant Seifer. "You must accept the terms of the deal when you are ready for them to be revealed to you. In exchange, I will grant you power of the 4th World, and you shall live like no other mortal."

"You think winning's my only reason for living? Who are you?"

"Quickly, you must decide." The void began to morph around them, and suddenly, he saw himself dying, being rocked violently as he spun downward in his fighter. This was a fitting end for a merc. If he accepted the deal, wouldn't that be cheating?

Was he really ready to die? Squall looked at the woman, her face was ethereal and long. Her lips were thin, and she did not use them to speak. Her hair shot out from her head in long, muted red locs. When he looked into her white eyes, he saw the only home he'd ever known, the home that gave his life purpose, Balamb Garden.

He thought of the _Odessa_, who would defend the _Odessa_? There was no one left, and Seifer was brutal.

Seifer. He immediately reached for the mysterious woman, she outstretched her hand and touched his chest. "I shall junction myself unto you. Your path from henceforth shall be a solitary one. But, you will…" Her voice began to grow faint as her body began to vibrate. She began to emit a dense, yellow light, her solid boundaries phasing out. She moved closer to him, the cool of their bodies touching was a sensation Leonhart had never known before. It felt like pure truth, and he knew he could trust her. Whatever her name was.

'You will…'

The void was now dissolving back into the world of time. His body began to feel heavy again as he occupied his usual self. His mind was racing, but there was something different now. He had been here before.

"Still too soft, loser." The hot blue of the vulcan laser shot through the air.

Something_ was_ different. It was a direct hit.

But, now his body was suddenly ejected from the _Gundblade._ His helmet flew off, as he was tossed through the air, the exploded pieces of _Gundblade_ covering his path straight into the flaming hole of the_ Odessa_.

He wasn't going to live, he thought. His course would send him slamming into the _Griever_ machine. He screamed as his body was hurled into the machine. But it did not break him. Instead, the weapon warped to accommodate the landing. "W-What is this" The machine took hold of him from the inside, wires that moved on their own encircled him and placed his body inside the cockpit.

It wasn't anything like the viper. The way it was designed called for the pilot to sit as if straddled over a motorcycle. "Now what?" His hands were placed over two levers. At the handle his fingers were placed over 4 buttons. Suddenly, a sharp stinging went through his hands. He realized that the machine was attaching itself to him. It prickled his body, before finally sending an antenna through the back of his skull.

The machine roared to life, communications systems came online, as well as weapons targeting, 3D imaging, and radar. The main display showed systems operation time and output. Also, a pulse line beeped at the bottom of the screen. It was a heart monitor.

In pain, he clumsily pressed down all of the buttons on both levers, unleashing a horrific laser shot from the torso of the machine, straight for _Hyperion_. "What the?" Seifer was still on the open channel. The main display screen read "Ultima Cannon - 45% output -". Was it a direct hit?

The _Griever_ lurched backward from the sheer force of the charge, falling on its back side. The crash luckily didn't destroy the ship, but Squall wasn't sure if he could even move the damned thing now. Besides, if Seifer managed to evade the cannon shot, the _Odessa_ would be done for. But there was a flare shot and what followed was the most relieving sound. Silence.

The Al Bhed pirates had signaled a retreat. He had taken Seifer down, and the last enemy ship was making an escape. He heard cheering from the surviving operatives, and over the intercom, the threat rating lowered to orange. The crew began putting out fires, helping the wounded, and rounding up the dead. Leonhart wouldn't be among them. Not today.

Had he really cheated death? And if he had, at what price? The silence overtook him again, and the machine released its grip, the cockpit turning once again into a cold, dark space. Squall let his hands loose from the levers. They dropped to either side of him, bleeding and heavy with exhaustion.

The woman and her strange eyes came into his mind again. What was it she was saying? "You will…" Squall mouthed, trying hard to remember. As he was drifting to sleep, he heard her voice again echoing in his head.

'_You will not be alone._'

* * *

"Well, Captain. I do believe you're all better now." Ansem stepped back after cutting a piece of gauze from Quistis' shoulder.

"Bandaged. Not better," Quistis winced, remembering the shrapnel that caught her in her left shoulder after it rained down on the command bridge from the exploding _Hyperion_. She touched her opposite hand to the injury, remembering the rallying cheer as the _Griever_ suddenly came to life to take Seifer out.

She didn't cheer. It was bittersweet. Seifer and Squall had been under her command for years. The two were gifted fighters and even better soldiers. Was he really dead? Quistis thought she saw the cockpit eject just before the cannon hit. But perhaps that was just her wishful thinking.

She scolded herself for being concerned with such thoughts at a time like this. The Captain had been cut from the chain of command when she went down with her injury. Her first priority was to re-assume command of the _Odessa_. "I need to get to the Bridge. Can you help me, Doctor?" Quistis gave a weak smile, it was a long time since Ansem was referred to as an actual doctor.

Somov chuckled, apparently aware of Quistis' meaning. "Of course." He said, draping a work coat over the Captain's wounds and helping her stand. "Well, that was an impressive dash from the brink, wouldn't you say?" Quistis raised to stand on her own, looking over sick bay. As many as twenty of her crew lay on stretchers. An understaffed medical team scurried about, organized but frantic. Once Quistis made her appearance, the staff immediately paused to show their relief.

"Captain!" Some of them greeted while saluting.

"What's our status?" It wasn't that Quistis wasn't grateful for the loyalty of her crew, it was just there were so many things unaccounted for. Plus, she didn't feel like she deserved their concern. She failed them as Captain.

"Ma'am!" A medic stepped forward. "There has been significant damage to the entire ship, we have 23 injured, and 14 dead. All five vipers are out of commission. We were able to recover 3, but they will not be able to fly or fight until we can properly repair it at base.

"What of the cargo?" Her heart drummed. The situation was dire, but it will have all been for nothing if the machine was destroyed.

"The hangar is seriously damaged, but the cargo remains unharmed. Though, we can't move the machine from it's current position. It must have fallen over during battle." Quistis breathed a small sigh of relief.

"Who piloted that thing without my permission? I demand to know!" Warrant Officer Dincht suddenly stirred in his bed, half bandaged, his arm in a cast. A few of the staff subdued him. He sobbed from pain or from the humiliation of his own defeat. Either way, Quistis had no time for his antics. Though, she was curious as to which operative was able to open fire from the cockpit of that mysterious machine.

"Who fired the weapon?" she asked.

"One of ours was found in the cockpit of the machine. He was unconscious when we found him, but we believe he was the one to activate and fire the weapon. Lieutenant Squall Leonhart, Captain." At this, Ansem burst into a quiet laugh, as if he'd been laughing at the same joke all day.

"By Hyne, the boy was planning to use it all along!" Somov continued to laugh to himself. Quistis didn't know what was so funny, he'd saved them all. But how was it possible? His unit was destroyed in battle.

"I thought the Gundblade was shot down?"

"It was, Captain… But I don't know… He saved us. Somehow."

Ansem cleared his throat and began to direct Quistis over to an isolated room in the sick bay. "I think there is something you need to see. Carry on, everyone else." Quistis could only assume that Ansem had at least jumped into action by directing the sick bay. She decided to trust him with it. Somov pulled back a curtain, revealing the Lieutenant laying unconscious, face swollen and bruised. He was bandaged extensively, though most of his injuries seemed minor. However his chest looked badly cut and bled straight through the white gauze.

"What happened to him?" Quistis averted her eyes.

"There's more." Somov uncovered Leonhart's hands, which were covered with bandaging. He pulled it back to reveal a fleshy hole, with a diameter of about 4 inches, in his hand. The Captain gasped. "These holes are all over him. On his other hand, down the inside of his legs, and one at the back of his skull. Little puncture wounds. I think they're from the machine."

"The Griever?" Her voice trembled slightly. She turned away, balling her fists. "Make sure no one else gets near that thing."

"But Captain-"

"Enough, Doctor. Please resume leading the medic team. I'll head to the command bridge alone." Ansem nodded, covering over Squall's wounded body protectively. "Don't let anyone else beyond the medic team know the circumstances surrounding the Lieutenant's injuries."

"Understood, Captain."

Quistis briskly left sick bay, heading through a corridor that led to the bridge. There was a hive of activity, as people went about using spare parts from fighters to seal the holes in the ship. The Odessa was notoriously hard to sink, as the very bottom half was sealed off and filled with a resilient microfiber that was lighter than air, but could support 100 times its weight. There were men stationed at the gun turrets above, their eyes like sentinels. They saluted silently as the Captain passed.

Her crew was extremely well prepared for the dangers of the mission, even ones as simple as weapons procurement. But this was a debacle. And it was goingon _her _record. "Captain!" First Lieutenant Xu Yeung saluted and joined in step with her Captain.

"How fast until we can get underway?" Quistis turned into the command center. Looking up, she noted the holes from when Seifer's ship have fallen in pieces onto the hull. There were crew at work mending some of the damage.

"Captain!" Those on the command bridge saluted her simultaneously. She didn't deserve it. She'd somehow let sensitive information get compromised. It didn't matter if it was the Galbadians, Pirates, or even only Seifer. She failed in her most basic duty to protect her ship. Xu stepped forward,

"How long till we get underway, people?"

"5 Hours, First Lieutenant!"

"What's with the hold up?" Xu barked. Quistis admired her 1st Lieutenant's\natural command. She probably was responsible for the incredible job the crew was doing.

"Ma'am! Our propellers are damaged, and our main power line has been cut, our navigation and gps is offline. Weapons are down, communications is-"

"I understand." Quistis cut in then. "Thank you for your hard work. My best to keep this ship unharmed was not good enough. Please forgive me." She bowed to her crew. Some seemed uncomfortable with the gesture. She breathed deeply and allowed her features harden again. "Please spend your energy repairing essential systems only. If we have to, we'll use our print maps to navigate back to the Garden. Once we get underway, we'll continue up the Centra-Bikanel channel continue north until we reach Base." The crew gasped.

"But Captain, in this condition? Won't the Al Bhed just follow us there?" Xu objected.

"No. The pirates won't risk fighting in shared territory." Besides, Quistis thought, she didn't think the official Al Bhed government had anything to do with that attack to begin with. That was definitely a merc ship. Especially since Seifer was involved. How had they found out about the weapon? She needed to maintain her first directive of the mission at all costs. Secrecy. She pushed those thoughts aside. "We continue north until we reach the Balambese-Besaid Federation and rendezvous with headquarters on the isle of Balamb. We depart in three hours." They needed to leave 5 hours ago.

"T-three hours?!" Xu uncharacteristically gulped. When Quistis squared her eye at her, she straightened up and saluted. "Captain!"

"Oh and Xu."

"Yes, Captain?"

"Please seal off the hangar area. Make sure no one gets near that weapon."

* * *

**A/N**

And another one down, and another one down, and another one bites the dust. Bum, Bum, Bum- another one bites the dust. So what do ya'll think about the story so far? I'm really into this and will probably update regardless if anyone reads or reviews. I know _someones _got to be at least skimming it hahaha.

Alright my dreamers. Hang loose.

* * *

**Next Chapter: E**

**An immortal begins plucking at the strings of fate. To help or to harm, who can say?**


	3. E

**The Eden Complex**

* * *

Chapter 2: E

* * *

Squall woke in the night. His body was stiff, probably from laying flat on his back for so long. How many hours had passed since he escaped death? He took in his surroundings, the sterile white sheets hanging for privacy, a blanket that was draped over his half naked body, and the Researcher, Ansem, sleeping uncomfortably in an upright chair.

The darkness was dense, but moonlight filtered in through the windows. Various beeps and quiet walking could be heard all throughout sick bay. "Ah, I see you're up," Squall immediately caught the woman he'd made contact with, who'd given him the power of the Griever weapon. But it wasn't she who had spoken to him. It was Ansem. Squall turned to him, startled. "For a man in your condition, you seem pretty alert. In any pain?" Somov stretched, cracking his neck before rising and flipping on a light switch that lit the sectioned off area.

'Are you just going to ignore me?' This came from the woman. Her eyes were silver as she sat near a window, her face straight, almost bored.

"Uh… No."

"Good." Ansem said, inspecting the Lieutenant's hand. Squall drew back in pain. Somov sucked his teeth, "I thought you weren't in any pain?"

'Who are you talking to, Squall?' Leonhart began to grow frustrated. Who was the woman he allowed to save him? Why did he trust her? She seemed intent on causing him some trouble, no matter how minor it was now.

"Listen, Doctor. Why don't you save the check up for morning. I'm fine." Somov threw a look of disappointment Squall's way.

"But I've waiting so long to finally start running some tests on you. Don't you want to know what happened to you?"

"It can wait." Besides, Squall already had a pretty good idea what happened, though the wounds on his hands were curious. He'd make the woman talk.

Somov was reluctant, but left the Lieutenant with another blanket and pillow for his comfort. "Get some sleep, Lieutenant. You have a promise to keep." Ansem strode off into the darkened ship.

'He's right. You do have a promise to keep.'

"You mean to you?"

"Well, that's the only promise I care about." The woman was strange, like she was from a different time. Her locs reached down to her back, the straight reddish hairs were tangled into long ropes. Her nose was pierced with a straight metal bar, while her ears were covered in even more piercings and metal jewelry. She wore a brown long sleeved shirt that left her belly exposed, and a black long skirt that fit loosely around her slender waist.

"Who are you?"

'E.'

"E?" The woman nodded and looked unwilling to be pressed about that subject any longer.

'And what about you?'

"You know my name." E chuckled.

'I know a lot about you. But do you really want to be rude?'

"Rude? You're one to talk."

'How rude of me to save your life.' E didn't seem offended, in fact, her straight face suggested that very little rattled this woman. Woman… he used that word lightly. He didn't think she was even Hume. Regardless, she was right. She had saved him and allowed him to beat Seifer, the least he could do was play in her game.

"Squall," he finally said. "You look like a woman, but you're not, are you?"

'Is that what I look like to you? A woman?' She smiled mischievously, allowing her lips to finally move from its straight line to the curve of a smile. Squall soon figured out that she was speaking to him telepathically. She inched closer to him, examining his jaw line, and the way his chest moved up and down. It made him uncomfortable. 'You don't need this,' E pulled at the gauze covering his chest, tearing it off a lot more gently than Squall expected. She reached forward, touching both hands to opposite sides of his face. Moving closer, Squall had no choice but to look into her eyes. If E had been using her lips to speak, they would have brushed against his. 'I'll show you the mark of our contract.'

Their eyes met, and Squall was instantly drawn out of his body and into E's. The feeling was alarming, and his mind began racing before realizing that the only thing that had moved was his mind. He was seeing through E's eyes. He focused on his own chest. It was burned with an emblem.

It was the outlined profile of a lion's head, the eyes were darkened. It was set upon the hilt of a highly stylized dagger. It looked as if it belonged to some sort of coat of arms. 'This is the mark of the Griever. It's what allows you to bond to the machine and to me; it's your gateway into the 4th World. You mustn't show this mark to anyone. Right now, it still just looks like a burn, but when it heals, it will look unnatural and you'll have some explaining to do.'

"Are you saying you actually care what happens to me?" Squall said, his mind floating back into his own body. E seemed a lot more willing to answer his questions if he too played along in her one-woman show.

She turned to him, backing away. Her smile was sensual and emotional. "Yes. You do have a promise to keep, afterall." She spoke the words with her actual lips this time.

It took a moment before he realized that E was no longer standing before him, it was Quistis instead. "So, you managed to live, after all." Squall's mind went fuzzy from E's head games. He'd have to be sharper around her.

"...Yeah," was all he could manage to say.

"Sorry to wake you, Lieutenant. It's just…" The Captain paused. She began to speak, but stopped herself and began anew. "I told the good doctor to alert me when you'd finally come to." Squall didn't reply, only draped a blanket over himself to cover the burn without drawing attention to it.

Quistis didn't notice because she was already in a bow, "Thank you for saving this ship, Lieutenant." Squall uncomfortably shifted before saying nothing. "We have two more days until we're in the Besaid-Balambese Federation. We won't get to Balamb until nightfall. The ship is wrecked, all the fighters… wrecked. The other Captains will have a field day with this once we get back to base."

"You did what you could," Squall meagerly offered. Why was a Captain spilling her guts out to a Lieutenant? He had known Trepe from some years, but time and again she'd drop her Captain's facade and begin to unleash all of her fears onto him. Too emotional, he thought. That had cost her a lot over the years, Squall guessed.

"Lieutenant, if the ship were to come under attack again...do you think you could use it?" She meant the weapon.

"Honestly, I don't know if I could, Captain." Quistis nodded, a marked look of relief lightening her features.

"Good night, Lieutenant." Quistis excused herself quietly, her knee length boots thudding in the silence.

"She's a good captain." E waited for Quistis to be out of earshot before she spoke with her actual voice.

"She's too emotional. Who cares what the other Captains think of her?"

"Who's Ellone?" At this, Squall snapped up to look E directly in the face. The question was soft, feigned innocence, and was out of nowhere. Caught off guard, his eyes went cold, before he braced his arms on either side of him. "So _emotional_. It was just a question."

"I'm done with your questions."

"Fine. I won't bring it up again." There was a short silence between the two before E decided to speak again. "Well, would you like to get out of here, Lieutenant?"

"What do you mean?"

"Using the same portals that got you out of Gunblade and into Griever, we can transport this ship to the other side of the Earth if you wished."

"We'd only need it to get to the isle of Balamb. Can you do that?" Squall returned, jumping to his feet. He began searching for a uniform to dress himself with.

"So, is that a go, Lieutenant?" E's voice sounded detached and slightly cold, but he could tell by the glow in her eyes that somehow, she was alive and excited.

"I said my name is Squall, not Lieutenant."

* * *

From a command center built into a south facing mountain shield on the Balamb Isle, Captain Nida Frederick waited.

They'd lost contact with the _Odessa_ a day ago, moments after receiving word that they were under attack. Headquarters didn't give orders to scramble, instead, Commander Youjin ordered Nida to wait for their arrival. It was either an act of great faith in Captain Trepe who led the weapons procurement operation, or a disingenuous goodbye.

Either way, after tomorrow, the_ Odessa_ would be deemed shipwrecked. And because of the sensitive nature of the cargo, Balamb Garden would have no choice but to either relinquish all knowledge of the thing whether it be in enemy hands or not, or, provided that the cargo was not touched and unharmed, excavate the remains of the ship from the ocean depths.

Nida regretted that the merc world didn't have the same moral standards as an official military as leaving a crew stranded to die was commonplace. Still, because of orders, he'd hold out hope a day longer that the_ Odessa_ would come back.

"Any changes?" Nida crossed his arms, loosening his black tie, and rolling up his white blouse. He preferred the look of a plain black suit as opposed to the uniform most other Balamb Garden operatives wore. Besides the plainness of his suit, his features were nondescript, average. His brown hair was cropped in the back while the front was long enough to be parted off centered and combed to the side.

"No, Captain. Still no word." Nida sighed.

"Well, keep trying."

"Yessir."

Captain Frederick worked with only a skeleton crew at this light tower. He saw no sense in having his entire team on alert when they would only be waiting for nothing. Nida left the command center, going into a cabin adjacent to it. It was were the coffee was.

He wondered if it was him who was being disingenuous. Afterall, Commander Youjin did choose Captain Trepe over him for that mission.

He was clearly better suited for the job, often outperforming Quistis in training exercises. But for Quistis to be attacked and wrecked? Maybe he'd overestimated her all of these years. After pouring himself a cup, he strode back to the command center.

The only tech he had working with him perked up and sniffed the air.

"You made coffee? Smells good, Sir!"

"There still should be some left. Go have some, Warrant Officer, Itsuki."

"You mean, you made coffee without the intention of making enough for your only subordinate here tonight?" Ami Itsuki feigned a scowl before removing her headset and backing up from her hunched over position over her terminal. Nida faltered slightly, having not really given it much thought. He rebounded.

"As my subordinate, it was your job to get _me_ some coffee." Ami sucked her teeth, having been bested. They were longtime friends, having lived in the same town as children. Ami was known for her pigtails, but not much else.

She and Nida were much alike in that they'd never really enjoyed popularity despite their talents. He frowned inwardly once he remembered Ami's transfer request to the research division. It sat on his his desk for weeks. "I want to work on that weapon. Once the Odessa comes back, please approve my transfer, Nida," she had said. Nida sipped at his black coffee, the taste nowhere near as bitter as he'd felt.

Their ambitions were different which explained the disparity in rank between the two, but he'd always assumed that she'd be with him. Well, if the _Odessa_ did manage to come back, he'd have no choice but to let her go. If not, he'd have another chance to convince Ami to stay.

With him.

His cheeks flushed at the notion.

Moments later, Ami returned with a cup and sipped contentedly before returning to her station. "Uh..Captain. About my transfer."

"Oh right! W-when did you need it approved?" Nida pretended this was the first he'd ever thought of it. In reality, it was all he thought about.

"Well, I handed it in over 3 weeks ago, hoping that by the time the Odessa came back -" She cut herself off here. "But…"

"You don't think it's coming back?" Nida tried his best to finish her sentence. She nodded. "Well, in any case, I'm happy that you don't need me to approve the transfer. I don't even know where I put it." Nida confidently sipped his coffee, relieved that he didn't have to spill his guts out to convince her to stay.

"Well that's just thing. I think I still w-want to be trans-" Nida choked on his coffee, shuttering and spilling it on Ami's monitors and onto the gunmetal floor.

"A-are you okay?" Ami rose to help Nida by patting his back. Nida composed himself, readying to speak, but in the momentary silence, something else sounded.

There was a blip on Ami's radar screen. Captain Frederick swung around and began transmitting an identity request signal. "Warrant officer, get me some holographics on that, will ya?" Nida expertly slipped out of his stuttering and into a commanding role. He returned to his work station positioned in the middle of the room. He looked through the bay windows, there was no sign of a ship.

From his terminal, he locked onto the target and pressed a radio way. "You are currently on approach for Balamb Isle territory. Please state your affiliation and purpose." Nida's lips bent into a stiff frown.

"Holographics confirm, it's the Odessa!" Ami nearly jumped up and down in her seat. Nida instinctively banged a fist on the metal armrest.

"They haven't replied, it could be a trap."

Then, a great light burst from the horizon, and Nida saw the heavens as the _Odessa_ came through the light from thin air. The sky turned to normal, only now it was altered with the battered body of the _Odessa_ foundering on the waves.

"She actually did it," Nida was in disbelief. Numbly, he pushed a level 1 alert, scrambling his crew to bring Quistis' ship back to base. Ami queued Nida when she switched on the intercom system. The Captain addressed his crew, probably still sleeping. "Coordinates are being transferred to your terminals now. She made it, boys. Let's bring her in."

* * *

**A/N: Well, can you guess what I did with my saturday? Lolo That was really fun to write. So, how do you like E? Does she remind you of a certain someone...from code geass? If so, let me know, if not, tell me to do better!**

**Thanks to whoever is still reading this. I plan on updating every sat/sun. **


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